Where I come from the air is free

I went out for a ride today and as it turned out it got me thinking and reflecting on the differences between countries when it comes to riding and gearing up, traffic and traffic behaviour.

To begin with, I passed by the petrol station to fill up. Then I thought I might as well check the air pressure. I was amazed to have to pay for this service, something I just assumed was included in the services the petrol station provides. But coming to think of it, even though I have travelled in about 15 countries I have only filled up with air in Sweden and New Zealand, none of these countries charged for it. Things might have changed though.

50 centimos to fill up with air
50 centimos to fill up with air

While getting on to the motorway, I was thinking of my riding gear and the safety of my jacket. I was wearing my summer jacket which has a built-in back protection. But it is rather short compared to my loose back protection that I use under my winter jacket. Pondering this, I got passed by two boys in t-shirts and the wind turbulence blew their t-shirts upwards exposing their whole naked back. The sight of this made me hope that they at least had the brains to put on sunblock, not to damage the skin in case of no accident.

I’ve been raised as a biker in an environment with very high safety awareness. In the local club, Lo Cats MC in Karlstad, where I spent my first riding years the general opinion was that when you get out to ride you gear up, and if you don’t use back protection you’re an idiot. Still, today I have a hard time not telling people that they are idiots when they don’t gear up properly for the ride 🙂

In Germany, Britain and other colder countries riders do gear up quite well, I guess this has to do with the double function of the gear, both safety and warmth. But I have noticed that a lot of touring riders wear laced hiking like boots for riding, which indeed are both comfy and waterproof but don’t provide much protection for the ankles. Personally, I prefer to ride in race boots, since I love hiking and running and therefore want to wear the best possible protection in case of an accident.

Reflecting on this I was riding here, between Miraflores de la Sierra and Tres Cantos
Reflecting on this I was riding here, between Miraflores de la Sierra and Tres Cantos

While riding in Spain I have seen people wear next to nothing riding their bike. The general idea is that it is a convenient way to commute and then you wear whatever you want to wear when you get to your destination. Which could be suit and tie, jeans and jacket or shorts and t-shirt, depending on where you’re going. Since I’m Swedish and know what I know and have seen what I have seen, I gear up even for riding to work, witch makes me have to answer a lot of questions, all the time. I guess it is just a different way of thinking about life. I can’t stand up and say how Spanish people think and why they do as they do, but to me it seems like it is more about living every day in as comfortable and nice way while Swedish people tend to plan for the future. Having said this, I’m aware that there are lots of serious bikers out there in Spain, geared up in leather, taking security seriously just as there are Swedish people not using back protection. This is my opinion and I love to hear your comments on it.

When it comes to traffic and the behaviour in traffic, Swedish and Spanish riders and drivers behaves very differently. I love the way I’m allowed to surf the queue, drivers actually make room for riders to pass. In Sweden, there is some kind of envy that prevents drivers from letting riders pass this easily. Like it would be bad to use a benefit when you can. Swedish people generally drive very much according to the rules and we plan our riding/driving. In Spain, the traffic acts a bit more creatively and I have, to an extent, got used to things happening suddenly. For example, a car can exit the roundabout from the inner lane by just using the horn and turning right. Traffic in Spain is generally very loud. It seems that there are many different reasons for using the horn, not only to make someone move or signal that you are coming, but also to show annoyance with the traffic jam. In Sweden, generally, we use the horn only to salute someone we know. And second if someone is in your immediate way. In England, Anelli and I often got passed silently by cars getting impatient because we hesitated a few seconds before getting into the roundabout. This annoyed me because I thought it was dangerous just to slip past like that not making themselves noticed. But from what I have heard British drivers don’t generally use the horn. But I have to say I prefer the Spanish way –  even though if I get beeped at a lot I might get stressed.

The best view of Madrid is from far far away
The best view of Madrid is from far far away

Now, when I’ve got started thinking on gear and traffic, next is to reflect on roads and scenery and biking in general during the Grand Tour. But that is not for today, now I have to get ready for bed, vacation is long gone and daily life has taken over my life again.

On my way to getting ready

Not much has happened on the blog lately but I have been busy ticking of my To-Do list. I have been contemplating the problem with my leather and how it affects my knees and I came to a conclusion. While leather is the safest option I also have to consider the importance of being dressed comfortably while riding. If something bothers me after one hour it will be horrible after one week. My Grand Tour is planned to take 5 weeks. Therefore, I was forced to go shopping. I hate shopping. Even though motorcycle stores generally are a bit nicer than other stores, it was still with great effort I went to search for new riding trousers in cordura.

Fortunately, there are quite a few shops located close together on Calle Bravo Murillo so I spent a Saturday there pondering the different options. I rather fancy having grey trousers due to the heat but they were nowhere to be found in my size and I went home empty handed. The day wasn’t completely wasted since I got a good idea of the range of clothing in stock. I followed up on the idea with another trip the upcoming Monday which resulted in me abandoning the idea of grey ninstead setteling for black. On Tuesday, I finally found a suitable pair. Unfortunately, they are not waterproof but will be nice and cool since they have sections made of mesh. Next task is to try them with my rain trousers to see how they work together… I’ll wait for some rain for that. Unfortunately, even these trousers are a bit short… they could do with a slight extension… and I could do with a reminder of what long legs are good for, seems just to be a hassle.

Other than this I have an upcoming appointment in the Ducati garage for a service and new front tyre. Almost all of my accommodation has been booked, the only one left is a night in Malmö which seems to be a challenge due to parking issues. The Britain tour came together nicely and is going to take me into Wales adding a new country to my list. I’m very excited about this! All in all, the tour around Britain covers 1800 km, not taking into account the distance I’ll ride during the WIMA rally.

While I was summing up the kilometres from the different legs of the journey I ended up with approximately 7000km. Exciting and a bit scary. This gave me a couple of sleepless nights pondering why most people don’t do things like this and why I do it. Due to the length of my journey I will have to change my rear tyre somewhere along the way. Now I’m trying to find out what distance I can expect the tyre to last, a question that none is willing to answer as it seems. Hopefully, I can be told some sort of percentage of remaining rubber on the tyre while I’m in the garage on Monday and calculate from that. Another new problem is the rear brake light which remains on after releasing the break. Seems to be some kind of glitch. I hope the garage can sort that out for me, the brake light is almost as important as the brakes.

I have also worked to complete the list of accredited Ducati garages along my route and tomorrow I plan to scan my important papers and e-mail them to myself for backup. Then, hopefully, I can give the bike a clean and try the new products I ordered from England. The PackSafe net seems good too. Left to do is to buy a compression bag for the bike cover, write to another couple of magazines, get a haircut and leave the Ducati at the garage for service and investigate the heated grips… and then it’s packing and repacking. I could do with some treatment for my left shoulder which keeps bothering me though, will try to squeeze that in too. Soon, very soon, I’m off!

Perked up

After being home sick for almost two weeks it felt like a big excursion heading in to the city today. My goal was to buy waterproof gloves and maps. Since I hadn’t been in the area before I had prepared with a map but never the less I headed of in the wrong direction. I have to admit that I am quite hopeless with maps, even though I practised hard last summer riding across Europe.

In the end I  found the stores, just got myself a bit of a walk, my dad calls that bonus exercise. I felt very lucky, already in the second store I found perfect waterproof semi thick racing gloves, and with a 50% off offer. I guess they don’t expect rain during summer in Madrid. I’m also happy to make a mental note off all the other gear at hand in the stores. It seems to be a much bigger range her compared to Sweden.

The new glowes, please note that colour mathes my leather
The new glowes, please note that colour mathes my leather

Next objective, maps. That was rather easily accomplished. I got what I wanted even though I’m disappointed that there wasn’t a slightly more detailed scale to get. Remembering last year getting lost in the French alps on roads not existing on my map I had aimed for something more detailed. But, I guess I be fine, I’m not going to the alps this time anyway 🙂

 

My maps, and above the reservations and tickets in waterproof pockets, all ready to go!
My maps, and above the reservations and tickets in waterproof pockets, all ready to go!

Those weeks I been ill has severely damaged my lust for travelling and I was feeling rather down. But then I got contacted by my Estonian friend Anneli and we spend a couple of evenings on the chat plotting and planing, setting our route and making reservations. It was great to share the planing with someone and that perked me up and woke the travelling bug. So now my entire route is just about ready.

A good thing that came out of my illness is indeed that I got myself an travel insurance. And today I  managed to clean the rims. It’s awful how dirty the bike have got from just being parked on the street, even with the cover. There is sand everywhere. No point in going to the wash station today though. Saturday seems to be the day all Spanish men cleans their cars. And since I plan to do unpermitted actions e.g. proper sponge and soap wash, not just hard pressure water wash, I better go when it’s more likely to be empty.

Clean rim on a dirty bike
Clean rim on a dirty bike